In the continuing drastic departure from the Egyptian culture, more specific laws have been enacted by the current government. While there have been some complaints in the camp that the laws are too drastic and restrictive, no one is stepping forward with details about what they disagree with. That might be because it looks bad to be upset that things like stealing or lying are now clearly considered wrong.

There is a happy buzz among the women of the country, as they are now afforded a new level of honor. With the changes, there is a legal basis for them to speak up about any degrading treatment by male family members or acquaintances. Along the same lines, the men of the household have been given a higher degree of leverage to protect the women in their families. There is also greater protection for children, who will have less likelihood of being dropped off at the nearest Molech kiosk.

There should be a new respect for business contracts and dealings. The new laws emphasize honesty in hiring practices, uniform weight and measures, and impartial communication. The disabled and aged should be treated with the same integrity as other customers and members of the community. The poor should have less excuse for stealing if they are willing to do a little leg work after harvest time.

Those who have been clinging to any sorcery or magic associated with Egyptian or Canaanian religious beliefs will have choices to make. Going back to Egypt isn’t looking appealing right now with the Egyptian economy in shambles and so much reconstruction after all those disasters. But with rumors of Canaan’s future demise, relocation there is iffy, too. Here in the Hebrew camp, it would be hard to hide participation in the cults because the exotic tatoos and beard styles of members have been outlawed.

While most of the laws have obvious actions that can be prosecuted, the one that stands out is declaring “holding a grudge” illegal. Some elders have already spoken up to caution the younger generation that is is really impossible to hide a grudge for the long term. Sooner or later the attitude manifests itself in real action. Thus, everyone is being cautioned and encouraged to have a genuine love for their neighbors. The overall consensus seems to be that the GOD, who is uniquely the real force behind this government, had the best interests of everyone in mind.

The job, as it has been openly outlined for the whole nation, seems to emphasize that the person carrying out the sacrifices needs to admit his own faults before representing the nation. Even after he has humbled himself, he needs to follow certain exact steps in order to avoid death. To make matters more tense, he has to be in the sacrificial chambers completely by himself. No one is even allowed in the whole building.

Of particular interest in the process are the two goats. One will be killed and one will be released into the wild. Since only one goat per year will be purposefully banished, it should not greatly affect open pasture or wild goat herds. Shepherds will not be able to claim losses due to feral goats unless some of them have mismanaged their own herds in ways that contribute to the problem.

Mr. Amramson’s duties on this one day a year include a couple of bathes and changes of clothing. This is understandable with the number of male animals he must kill. It is unlikely that the bull, ram, or 2 male goats will be cooperative. Just how he will contain them in the sacrificial chambers by himself remains to be seen. If he survives that, it may give his reputation a boost.

The new sacrificial code is proving to be a win-win situation for those with limited funds. Instead of requiring those in the lower financial brackets to bring the more expensive animals for sacrifice, provision has been made for them to simply acquire the common wild turtle doves or pigeons. They just have to capture them. For those who have a small coin to spare, there are young boys capitalizing on the agility of youth to catch the birds for an extremely low fee.

Since the doves and pigeons are needed for very common sacrificial cleansing rituals, such as when a person has had a stomach illness or the common discomforts of women, there are quite a lot of birds needed. For those who are willing to work at it constantly, the small fees can add up, providing a step up into the next economic level of prosperity. Since the birds take care of themselves and are prolific at reproducing, the business outlay costs are zero. The boys would probably be running and chasing something anyway, so they are not even eating more as a result.

Some of the boys from wealthier families have been seen making fun of the enterprising bird hunters, demeaning both the job and the pay. Most of the boys who are making money with the activity appear not to care. When asked by this reporter, a common reply is, “At least we have a job. Besides, it is kind of fun. Those other boys might be jealous because their moms make them stay out of the dust.” There don’t seem to be many jobs for young boys that are considered clean work, so the opportunities are limited for those who won’t get their hands dirty.

The complete implications of all of these sacrifices are not yet understood, but after the incident with the Aaronson brothers, most Hebrews are following all guidelines as closely as they can. Some people say that going through the rituals is difficult, with all of the blood, but that they can see that something needs to be done to address their failures and imperfections. They are willing to try to work with this system for now.

The whole tribe of Levi was subdued after more information was released about their job duties. It seems the perks of high-end uniforms and food donations from other tribes will be off-set by some rather repulsive responsibilities. The priests will be having regular contact with those inflicted with infectious diseases because of the requirement that they help control these conditions in the nation. Young Levites who were previously swaggering in the streets are now conspicuously absent from the local scene. There appears to be no excitement about being on the leprosy squad.

The exact protocol for evaluating the compromised skin, clothing, or building materials has been published in detail for the entire Hebrew nation. Each person will need to promptly visit a priest if certain symptoms are noticed. The priests on duty will have to get close enough to the potentially contaminated person to determine such things as the color of the hairs in the affected area, and whether the sores are more than skin deep.

The priests will also have to visit any leper outside the camp who thinks he has recuperated. Then, not only do they have to examine him closely, they have to touch him to perform various cleansing and symbolic rituals. Most community elders are of the opinion that this system will bring balance to the priests approach. The priests will be careful about declaring wellness if they have to touch those deemed disease free. On the other hand, they won’t carelessly diagnose people as infected because they themselves will have to go out to the leper camps to follow up.

All of this will obviously affect potential marriage contracts for the tribe of Levi. Parents may want to observe how these responsibilities impact the health of the Levite families before letting their daughters marry young priests. Still, the long term job security has its advantages for the Levites. Also, if they do their job well, it may be that infectious diseases will be much less prevalent than they have been.

Hopefully, the general population will quickly learn what needs to be shown to the priests and what are normal skin variations.

The announcement of an impending new diet has been greeted enthusiastically by the community. There is general relief that the manna and quail diet (M&Q diet) is not going to be the only food allowed in the Hebrew society. Although there has been widespread health with the M&Q regimen, and no one has been going hungry, many Hebrews have expressed a desire for more variation at mealtimes.

anything with fins and scales will be included in the new diet

The new nutritional program seems to be mostly concerned with the meats that will be approved for eating. A few favorite Egyptian recipes will have to be abandoned, but no one is upset that they won’t be eating bats or geckos. Many of the predator and scavenger birds are difficult to catch anyway. Plus, they tend to taste odd, so that limitation will not have much impact on people’s lives.

The terminology of “clean” and “unclean” animals is familiar to most, even if it hasn’t been part of current usage. However, with the regulations about touching the dead bodies of unclean animals, there may be some family discussions about the pocket-sized pets which have become very popular due to our current nomadic lifestyle.

Even though the M&Q diet is on the agenda for a while yet, a number of insects are included in the new diet as meat substitutes. Many of these can be readily found around camp. It remains to be seen how many children will agree to just grabbing a locust for an afternoon snack when it seems like a long time to wait for dinner.

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